Fountain lather brush



July 22 1924. 1,502,464

G. G. FLOYD FOUNTAIN LATHER BRUSH git/tjah? l. @gw

Patented JulyZZ, 1924.

PATENT QFFIQE,

GEORGE Q. FLOYD, OF RIVER-SIDE, ILLINOIS.

FOUNTAIN LATHER BRUSH.

Application filed March 2, 1921. Serial No. 448,984.

To all whom t may concern.'

Be it known that I, GEORGE G. FLOYD, a citizen of the United States,residing at Riverside, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Fountain Lather Brushes,of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to fountain brushes in general, but concerns moreparticularly, although not restrictedly, brushes of this general typedesigned for the application of lather preliminary to a shavingoperation.

To this end, the supply of soap or shaving cream is contained in thehandle' of the brush and is delivered in small quantities as occasionrequires to the bristles of the brush, ready for the formation of thelather.

One object of the invention is to be able to use a collapsible rsupplytube whereby the soap or cream is always maintained in a cleanly andsanitary manner until actually used.

A further purpose of the invention is the employment of a suitable valveto control the discharge or deliveryr of the soap or cream to the brushand to prevent an unintentional feed thereof to the brush.

Another salient characteristic of the appliance embodying the inventionis the employment of means to assure the collapse of the compressiblesupplyv tube without increasing any of its transverse dimensions, or,differently stated, confining the width of the collapsed portion of thetube so as not to exceed its original diameter. y

An additional outstanding feature of the invention resides in anim)roved cover for` the brush which may be app ied and removed withfacility and dispatch and which permits the brush to stand with itsbristles disposed downward to aid their draining and drying.

In order that those skilled in this art may have a full and completeunderstandving of the manner in which the foregoing and other desirableadvantages ofthe invention are obtained in a structure embody-rA ing theinvention in question, have illustrated in the accompanying drawing apreferred and desirableV embodiment of such invention, like referencecharacters throughout the several views applying to the same parts.

In this drawing: Y y

Figure 1 is an'elevation of the complete fountain brush with the bristlecover in position; f

Figure 2 .shows the same with the cover removed illustrating the brushportion proper; v

Figure 3 is a'fragmentary central longitudinal section through theappliance with theA brush cover removed g Figure 4 is a horizontalsection on line --l of Figure 3; and

Figure 5 is a plan view of the rider or bridle employed in connectionwith the collapsible supply tube.

Referring to the drawing, it will be perceived that the structurecomprises a sheetmetal cylindrical shell 11 open at one end and'provided at its opposite end with a circular rib 12, an adjacentexternal annular groove 13, and an inwardly-converging,centrally-apertured end-wall 17 fastened securely to a round supportingmember 18 internally screw-threaded to detachably or removably receivethe threaded neck 19 of a substantially-cylindrical, collapsiblesupply-l tube 21 containing a charge of soap or shaving cream. y

lSuch supply-tube is intended to be concealed or housed in a cylindricalsheet-metal cover 15, having an inturned edge portion at `1d, andlongitudinally slit at a plurality of points at 16 to give the open endof the cover a degree of elasticity, whereby it may be sprung over thebead or rib 12 and detachably held inV position by the part 14 fittinginthe groove 18 behind the rib.

The two parts 17 and 18 may be rmost conveniently secured together byfitting a reduced portionof the latter in the central hole of theyformer,r and then upsetting such part asis fully depicted in Figure 3.

Element 18 also has a threaded aperture 22 receiving the correspondingthreaded terminal part of' a tube or pipe 23 and holding thelongitudinal passage through the same 'in register with the mouth tofthe supply-tube. l

The upper or outer end of such tube or pipe is closed, but it has twolateral apertures 211 through which the soap or cream may be expressedinto the centraly portionof the brush, the tube or pipe having anenlarged head 25 with a central groove 26 for the application of ascrew-driver when the pipe is applied to or removed Vfrom the member 18.

A brush head or base element 27 has a round part adapted to fit andslide in the shell 11, an enlarged hollow rib 28, and an inturnedportion 29 designed to firmly grip and hold the base portions of thebristles of the brush.

Internally the member 27 accommodates a sheet-metal element having acylindrical portion 32 fastened to the inner face of the part 27, anintermediate disc portion 31, and a Vvalve sleeve 33 fitting over andadapted to slide on the pipe or tube 23 to open and close the valveports or openings 24.

The brush proper 34 is composed of suit able bristles whose inner endsare securely held between the parts 27, 28 and 29 and th( valve sleeve33, whereby the latter and the brush are fastened together and areadapted to move in and out as a unit.

To normally maintain the brush inV projected position and the valveports closed, a coil-spring 35 is interposed between the elements 17 and31, surrounding the support 18.

In order to prevent the collapsible supplytube 21 from expanding orenlarging in any direction when it is squeezed to deliver a portion ofits contents through the delivery pipe 23, it is equipped with a taperedconflning rider or bridle 36 constructed of a band of liexiblesheet-metal, one end of which has a slot 37 therethrough for the renception of a tongue 38 on the other end of the band, the tongue or lip38 being' bent back after passing outwardly through theY slot to holdthe ends of the band togetherV adjustably and to give the rider adefinite size conforming to that of the tube with which it is used andaround which it is fitted as shown. p

Internally, the confining rider has two, opposite,longitudinally-tapered, hollow ribs 39, 39, made of suitably-shapedsheetmetal members having top and bottom tongues or lips 41 and 42 bentover the corresponding edges of the element 3G to hold or maintain theribs in position.

The open-ended cover 42 for the bristle portion of the brush comprisestwo, sheetc metal substantially semi-cylindrical shell v elements 43 and44 hinged together at 47'by an eyelet passing through overlapped ears 45and 46, the cover near one end having a hollow bead 48` adapted tol fitover the annular/rib 28 of the brush, with the portion 49 of the coverbetween such riband the shell 11. y

At such end of the cover, the one element 44 has ears 51 on its oppositesides overlapping the companion element of the cover and provided withindentations 52 forming internal bosses adapted to fit in recesses ofthe parts which they overlie.

' The other ory outer end ofthe cover is flat and open, the'edges of thetwo parts do not touch in the contracted or closed condition of thecover lleaving longitudinal openings style of brush occurs practicallyas follows:

The rider or bridle 36 is clamped around the lower portion of a soap orcream supplytube 21 and forced part way along the same towards its neckto provide substantial ex- Y ternal grooves in the tube by the ribs 39.

Such infolding of the thin metal at these two opposite points assuresthat when the tube beyond or below the rider is squeezed or collapsed toexpel its contents, the tube will not expand sidewise beyond theoriginal diameter of the tube. Y

This permits the employment of a cover over the tube not much larger indiameter than the tube itself.

The supply-tube having thus been fitted with the groove-producing ormetal-folding band or strap, the neck of the tube 19 is screwed into thethreaded socket in the supporting member 18. Y

To feed some of the soap or cream to the bristles, the brush 34 and itshead or base are pushed inwardly with one hand causing the valve sleeve33 to open the valve ports or apertures 24, and at the same time withhis other hand'the operator squeezes orcompresses that part of the tubevbelow or beyond the rider, thereby expelling into the brush proper anydesired quantity of the tubes contents.

As soon as this hasbeen accomplished, the brush is released and thevalveiimmediately closes automatically, thus effectually preventing anyfurther discharge of the soap or cream, which sometimes tends to occurwith collapsible tubes of this character. i

Thereupon, the cover or handle part V15 may or may not be attached tothe appli` ance over the tube and the brush structure as a wholeemployed in the usual way, although some persons preferto omit theapplication of the handle cover and to use the supply tube itself as ahandle.

From timey to time` as occasion requires,

the bridle or'rider 36 is forced along the tubev to preliminarily formthe side grooves or deformations in the tube before the latten iscollapsed or compressed to feed its contents. Y f

The use of the brush having beenY completed and its bristles havingbeen"'washed or rinsed to remove the surplus lather as is customary, thehinged cover is applied over the ,brush by turning its hinged sectionstogether over the bristles, thus more or less automatically compressingthe brush which has a natural tendency to expand. The complementaryparts of such cover 4are held in this closed relation by the cooperatingcatches or locks52 and the presence of a portion of such coverbetweenthe bead 28 and the end of the shell 1l prevents the inwardmovement of the brush and consequently prevents the opening of the soapor cream supply valve.

Accordingly there is no danger of a discharge of the contents of thetube so long as the bristle cover is in place.

If any of the bristles tend to project through the slits or cracks inthe cover, they can be easily withdrawn therefrom by merely turning thecover somewhat on its own axis.

Inasmuch as the end of the cover is positioned slightly beyond the endsof the bristles, is open, and is flat, the whole struc ture may becaused to stand on such open.

end thus facilitating draining of the wet or damp bristles.

Those skilled in this art will readily understand that the invention isnot limited and restricted to the precise structure shown and describedsince radical changes may be made in the same without departure from thesubstance and essence of the invention and without the sacrifice of anyof its substantial benefits and advantages, and it will be furthermoreunderstood that the brush itself is not confined to the particular usespecified since it is capable of satisfactory employment in manyrelations.

The collapsed or flattened part of a supply tube of the type indicatedis of a width ordinarily more than one and one-half times the originaldiameter of the tube, and one purpose and function of theprogressivelyadvanced rider or confiner is to prevent such sidewiseexpansion during the flattening of the tube. In the present embodimentof the invention the width of the collapsed part of the tube is confinedor restricted to the original diameter of the tube, but, of course,reasonable variations are permissible.

l. In a fountain-brush, the combination of a shell, a brush includingbristles and a hollow brush-head slidable with relation to said shell,an internally-threaded member in said shell adapted to receive thethreaded neck of a collapsible supply tube, a pipe with a valve-portconnected to said member and extending through the hollow of the brushfor the passage of the contents of the tube to the bristles, a valvesleeve in said brush-head encasing and slidable on said pipe and adaptedby its reciprocat-ions t0 open and close said valve-port, and a springacting on Asaid brush-head tending to shift the latter to valve-portclosing position.

2. In a fountain-brush, the combination of a support, a brush slidablymounted on said support, a supply member, means to conduct the contentsof said supply member through a discharge opening to said brush, aslidable valve controlling said discharge opening of said conductingmeans by the sliding'movement of said brush, and a removable cover forsaid brush locking the latter against sliding valve-openin movement whenin position over the brus GEORGE G. FLOYD.

